Fact Check: Viral WhatsApp message on false Covid info to be considered as punishable offence is hoax
The message claimed to be sent from the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs and specified that only a government agency can post information on the virus and if any individual does so, the group administrator would be registered under the IT Act and action would be taken.
Reports on fresh Covid-19 cases have triggered false information on the same. Recently, a WhatsApp message claiming that posting any information related to Covid-19 on social media will be considered as a punishable offense by the government, went viral. The message claimed to be sent from the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs and specified that only a government agency can post information on the virus and if any individual does so, the group administrator would be registered under the IT Act and action would be taken.
Users shared the following message:
FACT CHECK:
The fact check team looked into the Home Ministry’s website but did not find any government official named Ravi Nayak to whom the message was attributed. This clearly indicates that the message was not sent by the government or any of its officials.
Additionally, we did not find any news reports stating that the Home Ministry has declared a punishable offense on posting anything related to Coronavirus. In fact, the Press Bureau of India (PBI) officially tweeted and debunked the message by calling it fake.
The fact check wing clearly states that posting information related to Coronavirus is not a punishable offense. However, the Central Government insists that users share accurate and reliable information.
This is not the first time that such a message was viral. The same WhatsApp message was viral in 2020, during the initial pandemic phase and was debunked as false even then. A source clarified to Quint that there was no person with the name ‘Ravi Nayak’ nor was there a designation called Principal Secretary. (Read more here)
With this, it is clear that the Whatsapp message is a hoax.